1:72 Airfix Tornado

[Howlindawg]

I'll be honest from the start; This kit very nearly wasn't going to get built.

I bought it on a whim with a view to building a full set of the various interceptor generations. Lightning, Phantom, Tornado and Typhoon. I was so underwhelmed when I opened the box that I just packed it all back up again and pushed it to the back of the shelf.

But then I bought myself an airbrush and needed a couple of mule builds to practice on and try out the various types of acrylics that were available locally. I looked through the stash and chose a Revell Fokker Dr.1 to paint with Gunze and Tamiya paints and this Tornado to paint with the much maligned Humbrol Acrylics.

First up was the cockpit. Now when I say cockpit what Airfix supply isn't isn't so much a cockpit as a smooth, flat, featureless bathtub.

After their delightful little Vampire model this was a real disappointment. Rather than try to make a silk purse from a sows ear by adding detail I've elected to fit the pilot figures and build this as an "in-flight" model with the cockpit closed and undercarriage up. Even so, I think it'll need a little more than a quick coat of 164 - Dark Sea Grey to be acceptable.

Airfix-Tornado---cockpit by Martin Fay, on Flickr

I've also made a start on the wings, replete with raised panel lines and enormous ejection marks. How very 70's.

2016-09-09-11.30 by Martin Fay, on Flickr

Much slicing, scraping and sanding later and we're getting there.

Airfix-Tornado---Wing-WIP by Martin Fay, on Flickr

And finally I can actually glue something!

Airfix-Tornado---Wings-WIP2 by Martin Fay, on Flickr

[Mark4700]

A nice start. I remember making this kit back in the day. I've been thinking of getting it again so watching this with interest.

[Mr T]

The kit first appeared in early 1976 as a the prototype and then had new bits added over the years, and so definitely not state of the art. A new F3 would be nice, but I cannot see it happening anytime soon.

[mirageiv]

Nice start! I built one of these last year and it maybe isn't the most detailed kit ever but it certainly looks like a Tornado once done. One problem I had, as you are closing the canopy like I did, is the rear canopy was too short where it meets the rear bulkhead, so I inserted a plastic shim and it brought it forward a mm or two.

David

[At Sea]

Interesting, I'm waiting for Revell's 1/48 ADV which I hope is around the corner!

[The Spadgent]

great start sir. My prowler started out as a kind of mule for my long awaited Tamiya Tomcat. Sometimes mules turn out non to shabby. I'm looking forward to more of this.

John.

[Howlindawg]

I grabbed a few minutes away from decorating the kitchen to sand the wings and shoot on a coat of Ultimate Primer (grey).

I must say I'm impressed with this product; it shoots on easily and doesn't obscure any details.

Airfix-Tornado---primed by Martin Fay, on Flickr

My first attempt at shooting Humbrol Acrylic, undiluted, resulted in a slightly lumpy finish so this time I elected to retry thinned with Gunze Mr Leveling Thinners. As experiments go this was not complete success. My small sample of Dark Sea Grey slowly congealed into a gelatinous sludge.

Unfortunately I'm now out of Dark Sea Grey.

Fortunately Dark Sea Grey is an almost exact match for Ultimate Primer grey; So I can proceed without having to wait for a trip to the model shop at the weekend.

The next colour required is Medium Sea Grey so that's now diluted with plain old tap water ready for its' appointment with the airbrush.

[R159]

I made one of these a couple of weeks ago.. Updated it with AMRAAMs, BOL rails and asraams, looked ok..the only down side was that it was the starter set so the livery didn't really match the load out. I fancy doing the ef3 in l/72... Just need another f3 kit got rest of the bits...we'll see what wings and things can deliver this weekend...

Edited September 13, 2016 by R159

[Howlindawg]

A question for those in the know.

 

Most of the reference images I can find show dark areas on the wing where they pivot into the fuselage.

What's the significance of these markings?

Are they just the areas of the wing that retract inside when the wings are fully swept back or extended?

[Howlindawg]

Time for a progress report.

Well first and foremost I've given up on the Humbrol acrylics for spraying.

I tried a few dilution options but nothing made them as easy and effective as the Gunze paints for airbrush application.

They're fine for brush application though so the remaining stock will be kept for painting small areas by brush.

 

So the wings were cleaned off, re-primed and I started on the anti-abrasion finish on the inner wings.

I started by dry fitting a wing into the fuselage and marking out the areas covered by the fuselage with the wings at full sweep and full extension.

I then made up a paper template of the extremities of these areas and used that to mark and mask the wings.

 

I went with Tamiya XF-54 for the anti abrasion finish and XF-83 for the main colour.

 

I'm much happier with the quality of finish from the Tamiya paints and it's also a lot more durable than the Humbrol which scratched off at the slightest contact.

 

Airfix-Tornado---anit-abrasion by Martin Fay, on Flickr

 

In the meantime I've cleaned up the fuselage so the next step will be to try to join up the two halves as cleanly as possible.

[The Spadgent]

Looking great! I'm sorry I'm not sure what the marks on the wings are, I think you are right with your assumption however.

John 

[Howlindawg]

8 hours ago, The Spadgent said:

I'm sorry I'm not sure what the marks on the wings are, I think you are right with your assumption however.

John 

 

Melchie came to the rescue elsewhere on the forum and confirmed the purpose of the markings.

 

Unfortunately I couldn't spend much time at the bench today and realized that the cockpit had to go in before the fuselage could go together.

So the cockpit area was primed and then painted Dark Sea Grey and Nato black.

I also added a little shading courtesy of grey filters and a subtle wash to try and add some contrast to the cockpit.

I didn't bother detailing it as the cockpit will be closed on this one.

 

Will now twiddle thumbs waiting for glue to dry.

 

Airfix-Tornado---Cockpit-fitted by Martin Fay, on Flickr

[S5 modeller]

Good start. Got the original boxing of this (mrca version)  so will follow with interest. 

 

Matt

[Howlindawg]

One think I'm coming to love about this hobby. You can spend a day at the bench and really get stuck into a model but if you only have a few minutes here and there (like I do at the moment) you can just chip away doing a few little tasks at a time. It probably makes for a dull WIP to follow though.

 

Tonight I shot a coat of Mr Clear over the retracting sections of the wings to protect the painted surface from scratches during assembly.

I then had a good look at the folding wing mechanism. Now the instructions say to just press the parts together and close it up but I was skeptical so while the paint was drying I coated all the pivot points with a HB pencil dry graphite lube. I then assembled the wings and used a soldering iron to gently deform the tops of the pivots so that the mechanism couldn't come apart after the model is closed up.

 

Airfix-Tornado---Sweep-Wing-Mech by Martin Fay, on Flickr

 

The wings are now fitted in the lower fuselage half but I'll let the paint dry on the stabilisers before assembly.

And sadly, that's about it for tonight.

 

 

[S5 modeller]

Nice idead to fix the wing pivot points.

Hate to see a wing come adrift after all your hard work.

Keep it up, you're encouraging me to start mine.

 

Matt

[Howlindawg]

Just to prove there has been some progress...

 

Airfix-Tornado---fused by Martin Fay, on Flickr

 

There's going to be some serious sanding required on that fuselage joint.

[The Spadgent]

Looking good. Those little dudes look happy enough.  nice tip for the wings too. 

 

John

[Howlindawg]

Not much progress to report I'm afraid.

We had guests staying and my normal modelling space doubles as the guest room so the Tornado has been temporarily packed away safely.

 

I did however get to finish the control lines and rigging on this.

A few paint blemishes to correct and it'll be finished.

 

Fokker-Dr1 by Martin Fay, on Flickr

[The Spadgent]

Awesome! Three is indeed the magic number.

[Howlindawg]

The Tornado is back on the bench and progress is being made.

A little filler and Mr. Surfacer and we'll be ready for primer.

 

Tornado---prepped by Martin Fay, on Flickr

 

I'm probably going for a clean, in flight build as might be seen at an airshow so no tanks or armament planned.

[Howlindawg]

Today started with the inevitable fill, sand, prime, inspect, repeat... routine.

As expected, those side joints took a lot of filling and sanding to get right but straight forward enough with Mr Surfacer 1200 to finish. Once happy with the basic finish I added an aftermarket pitot and shot on the final coat of Ultimate Primer grey.

 

Tornado---Pitot by Martin Fay, on Flickr

 

Then it was a preshade (a first for me) Tamiya X-18 and a few light coats of XF-83 Medium Sea Grey.

I was going for a subtle effect but think I overdid it as the preshade is barely visible. My pre-shade was too subtle and I added one coat too many of the base colour.Will try this technique again at some point.

 

Tornado---MSG by Martin Fay, on Flickr

 

I'll leave this for a while before masking for the next colours.

 

 

[Leonl]

Nice progress. I agree that the Airfix Tornado really needs a re-tool.

[Howlindawg]

Getting there now, all the colour is on.

 

I really like the effect of the buffed "Mr. Metal Color" for the metal surfaces.

I need to experiment a bit with airbrushing them though as had some issues with clogging.

 

Paints used were

Mr Hobby H332: Radome

Mr Hobby H12: Tail and central stripe

Mr Metal Color 212 & 214: Exhausts

 

Next up will be a coat of Mr Super Clear before decals and a PLW.

 

Airfix-Tornado-Base by Martin Fay, on Flickr

 

Airfix-Tornado-Exhausts by Martin Fay, on Flickr

 

[Howlindawg]

Almost there.

 

Cleared.

Decals on.

Applied a light panel line wash.

Coated with Tamiya flat clear.

Cut slot in underbelly for stand.

 

Airfix-Tornado-Decals by Martin Fay, on Flickr

 

Still to do.

Repair a popped seam in front of the right wing. (Doh! that was a tad clumsy)

Satin (or maybe gloss) Clear on the Black paintwork.

Unmask the cockpit.

[TonyTiger66]

I just read this from beginnning to almost completion Martin.

 

Great work on getting this old kit to look very smart  .

 

I was interested in your earlier airbrush experiments with Humbrol acrylic. There's a colour in their railway range that is perfect for my needs on a pretty unique aircraft. Many experiments with all kinds of thinning potions and flow improvers...no luck .

 

I think I'll write to Humbrol and ask for advice. I'll let you know of any (polite) response.

 

The metal colour paints look great here on the jet exhausts. It's a very attractive colour scheme too. Nice to see this rescued from mule status to a proper display aircraft .

 

Best regards

TonyT